Friday, April 21, 2006

Alabama v. Adams Update

Scotus Blog has an update (and lots of good comments) on the Alabama case that gave rise to Justice Parker's declaration of independance from the law.

One commentator, who is a big-time death penalty proponent, has this to say:

Much of the criticism directed at Roper is valid. Even so, Justice Parker's suggestion that state supreme courts should stand in the courthouse door in the George Wallace tradition is beyond the pale. The United States Supreme Court was created by the Constitution for the specific purpose of giving a definitive answer to questions of federal law, to be followed by all other courts whether they agree or not. The alternative is chaos.

Justice Parker's claim that Supreme Court decisions only bind the parties and need not be followed by other courts is nonsense. Establishing binding precedent is the primary reason for the Court's existence. This is an essential part of our constitutional plan, which all judges are sworn to uphold.

Alabama may get an "E" for effort with this petition, but the effort is doomed. The chances of any of the Roper five changing their minds are in the same ballpark as my chances of winning the lottery.